The overall aims of this Center for Research on Preventing and Managing Chronic Illness and other Chronic Health Conditions are (1) to support ongoing research and initiate multidisciplinary studies of a variety of chronic illnesses and conditions in vulnerable individuals, families and groups; and (2) to develop a framework for understanding the common and unique processes involved in both preventing and managing different chronic illnesses and conditions. The focus of the Center is on those individuals and groups who are vulnerable, or at high risk for developing chronic illnesses or other chronic health conditions such as disabilities, or for having problems managing chronic illness because they are poor, are an ethnic minority, are at a vulnerable developmental stage (infants, children and adolescents, and the elderly) or reside in a rural or underserved area. The long-term goal is to identify ways to assist these individuals and groups to establish and maintain effective preventive and illness-management behaviors. Specific outcomes of the Center's anticipated work include (1) the development of appropriate measures to capture the full range of biophysical, environmental, psychological and social variables needed to adequately study chronic illness in individuals and groups at highest risk; (2) the chronic illness or condition, to promote maximum function and optimal health outcomes; (3) development and testing of interventions with vulnerable people to promote their health and assist those who are chronically ill to manage their illness; (4) provision of experiences to new investigators, particularly minority investigators, that will develop their research capability and enrich current studies, and (5) dissemination of study findings. These will be done through services provided by four cores: the Administrative Core (to provide overall guidance and solicit and fund pilot studies), the Research Support Core (with emphasis on data management and new analytic techniques, such as mixed model analysis, application of methods to vulnerable groups, and methods of cost assessment, and the services of a biobehavioral lab), the Conceptual Core (a mechanism to challenge researchers to think critically about the current state of knowledge in prevention and management of chronic illness in vulnerable people and to develop clearer conceptualizations of chronic illness in vulnerable people as a guide for future.